Two Southern University Baton Rouge professors received a Louisiana
Board of Regents Office of Sponsored Program's Pilot Funding for New
Research (Pfund) award for 2013.

Jarrett Landor-Ngemi was
awarded $10,00 for his proposal "Assessing STEM students' cognitive
learning of EHR technologies: a multi-media case study," and Victor
Mbarika received $10,000 for "Implementing an artifact and theorizing
E-Democracy and citizen participation in Sub-Sub-Saharan Africa."

Landor-Ngemi is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership, College of Education, and Mbarika is Houston Alumnae Endowed Professor, College of Business and director of the SU International Center of Information and Technology Development (ICITD).

The Pfund program is administered through the Office of Sponsored Programs but operates under the auspices of the Louisiana Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

EPSCoR is designed to build and expand the science and engineering research, education, and technology capacities in states that have historically received lesser amounts of federal research and development (R&D) funding.

A group of over 200 expert reviewers from outside the state selected the recipients after an extensive proposal review process. Each recipient received up to $10,000 to use towards sharpening his/her research focus and developing cutting-edge techniques. Funds are provided to support students, travel and the purchase of scientific equipment and supplies.

Twelve higher education institutions across the state are home to the 41 awards this year, including Louisiana College, Louisiana State University and A&M College, LSU-Agricultural Center, LSU Health Sciences Center-New Orleans, Louisiana Tech University, Nicholls State University, Southeastern Louisiana University, Southern University-Baton Rouge, Tulane University, Tulane Health Sciences Center, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and University of Louisiana at Monroe.

The Sponsored Programs division of the Board of Regents administers State and federal programs that provide funds and other resources to Louisiana's post-secondary education community and interacts extensively with institutions and governmental agencies on issues related to post-secondary research and educational enhancement.